Xed
by Home By Another Way
Summary: The Titans are fighting X for the first time in three years. He does something stupid, drags Raven along for the ride, and ends up getting hunted by the Justice League in another dimension. T for X's mouth and violence. RedRae/Spitfire/SuperMartian
1. Chapter 1: PPGW

**I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack~! OK, I never really left, but, well - I just felt like saying that. Huzzah. I've been meaning to post this for a while. Actually, I forgot about it until about twenty minutes ago and edited it some . . . let me know if I sound too stiff, m'kay?**

**Thanks.**

**I'm too cold right now to entertain myself with anything more exciting than the regular disclaimer, so I don't own Teen Titans or Young Justice! Awwwwww. :(**

**Read on, awesome peeps!**

**X-ed **

**Chapter 1: Power Play Gone Wrong**

They were fighting. Again.

_It was ridiculously pointless_, Raven thought to herself. _And annoyingly repetitive._

But, she reflected as she dodged yet another smaller than normal – though potentially even more dangerous than usual – and sticky red "X" meant for her mouth, she had to hand it to the villain tirelessly chucking them; he knew how to keep them on their toes.

The day had started out normal enough for Raven and the rest of the Teen Titans, and because of the incredibly reduced overall crime rate of Jump City, all that they had been forced to handle for the most part that morning were a few muggings, burglaries, and Grand Theft Auto's. It seemed as though all super-powered villains had closed up shop and left to terrorize others in a "safer" environment (namely one so-far uninhabited by super heroes). And although the rest of the team (minus Robin of course) thought that this was just something to celebrate and wasn't the least bit suspicious, Raven had her doubts.

And now, after having disappeared off the face of the earth for nearly a year, the relative peace of the morning had been shattered by the sudden frantic call from a local big-time jeweler, a man by the name of Rubeus Bartholomew Kingston the Third.

At the time the call was placed –a mere ten minutes ago – the man was in the process of being robbed by a certain skull-masked bad guy in a stolen suit. And this particular bad guy also happened to have a penchant for switching sides at the most unexpected times. An example of which being years ago when Robin had been fighting (or rather _racing_) nearly every other super-powered villain the team had ever come across in order to retrieve a very special case from Ding Dong Daddy.

This specific bad guy and Robin had been neck-and-neck for almost the entire duration of the race, and had been nearing the end . . . when something happened. According to Robin, Ding Dong Daddy had pulled a fast one on him and Red-X. Robin had apparently been able to dodge it, but the worst of it had been headed toward Red-X.

Red-X had crashed.

But Robin had saved him for some reason, pulling him from the wreckage and onto the back of his own motorcycle, instead of leaving him in the dust.

Red-X had been silent for a few seconds before asking Robin why he had bothered to save him; an enemy. Robin had stoically replied that it had been the right thing to do. It was then that the rest of the competition (a.k.a. the other super-powered villains) had closed into within a few feet of the R-cycle and its two young passengers.

X had apparently come to a decision then, because he said something along the lines of, "You really want that case, don't you?"

Robin had nodded.

X's old humor evidently returned because he said, "Then go get it," and had then leaped off of the R-cycle and onto the nearest competitor's car. From there he had taken out every single villain in pursuit of the spiky-haired Titan quickly and with ease.

In fact, Raven recalled, X had even seemed to be enjoying himself as he systematically destroyed all other automobiles on the track.

_Well_, Raven mentally corrected herself, _that was not entirely true_.

She and Starfire had managed to commandeer a bus full of villains and had been following Robin as fast as they could in order to be able to provide their assistance had it been needed by the Boy Wonder.

X had chosen to attack them last.

Raven smirked as she remembered how surprised and . . . _proud_ he had felt when he caught sight of her driving a big yellow school bus. And although she had been confused as to why Red-X had felt _pride_ of all things when he saw her, she had allowed herself to smile slightly when he gave her a nod of approval, before teleporting away to who-knows-where.

As far as she knew, he had not been heard of since.

Until today, that was.

#? #? #? #? #? #? #? #? #?

Raven growled in annoyance as _yet another_ sticky X meant for her mouth came flying towards her. After dodging it successfully, she spun around to see what she had missed of the fight.

The empath grimaced as the scene before her sunk in.

Admittedly, the brawl had not been in the Titans' favor from the beginning, but this was just ridiculous.

It was unheard of nowadays for the Titans to be losing _this_ badly.

Starfire and Beast Boy had been incapacitated in the first five minutes, both downed by some unknown noxious gas emitted by a canister Red-X had thrown their way, and Cyborg had followed them into the throes of unconsciousness soon after.

He had been taken out via Red-X plugging up his Sonic Cannon. Cyborg had been preparing to fire at their elusive adversary at the time, and the process had been too far along to deter.

Raven flinched as the sound of the earth-shaking explosion and the loud _thud_ of Cyborg's body hitting the ground with entirely too much force resounded in her mental eardrums.

Returning to the present, it seemed like Robin had been the next to fall if the Boy Wonder-sized, smoking hole in the wall was anything to go by.

So that meant that it was down to just her and Red-X.

Speaking of which, where was he, anyway?

Glancing around warily, Raven remained tense and on her guard; she could afford nothing less. But even in her cautious state, she almost didn't sense his attack from behind until it was too late.

Ducking and somersaulting to the left simultaneously to avoid what would have been a devastating blow; Raven righted herself and launched her own attack.

In was a weak offensive play; she was well aware, but she needed to know how much X had changed over the last three years.

He had certainly gotten more skilled if he had been able to elude her psychic senses so expertly just now. And something else that bothered her was the fact that even though he had just taken down four of the five of the original Teen Titans, he had barely even broken a sweat.

"Aw, come on, Raven, why don't you just stand still so I can finish taping that pretty little mouth of yours shut – although I could use something else?" he hinted suggestively.

Huh? It seemed his habit of taunting hadn't changed, but why for the love of Azar was he throwing sexual innuendoes at her? Before now he had always reserved those for Starfire; just to tick Robin off a little more.

Still confused, Raven said nothing in reply, and X decided to fill the silence with another barb.

"Hello? Are you in there, Sunshine? You seem pretty slow today. What's the matter . . . the defeat of your team gettin' to ya'?"

Poor X was totally unprepared for Raven's eyes flashing a brilliant crimson.

Now she was _mad_. Raven might have been willing to grant him mercy before (albeit with a lot of begging on his part) but he had crossed the line with that stupid nickname and the flippant condensation of her teammates.

It was official now; Red-X was dead.

**Don't worry~! I probably won't kill him off. Review and he still has hope!**

**- Home By Another Way**


	2. Chapter 2: SoH:NoM

**Holy cow! What an awesome, overwhelming response to this story! Thanks, guys! I am so happy that I'm going to give you this chapter earlier than I thought I would. ENJOY!**

**Oh, and btw, I imagine this story ****STARTS AFTER "Disordered" and BEFORE "Misplaced", disregarding "Secrets." Zatanna will appear in chapter 3. So, this story takes place in Season 1, because I started this before Season 2 began (months ago, actually . . . ). But that's beside the point.**

**I DON'T OWN TEEN TITANS OR YOUNG JUSTICE.**** If I did, TT Robin wouldn't be so obsessive and would instead go around singing "Damn It Feels Good to Be Me" by Uncle Kracker and beating up Slade with the power of awesomeness!**

**Let us all take a moment to give thanks for the fact that I do not own either of these fantabulous ideas. Amen.**

**CHAPTER TWO: SLEIGHT OF HAND; NOT OF MIND **

Last chapter re-cap:

_** . . . X decided to fill the silence with another barb.**_

_** "Hello? Are you in there, Sunshine? You seem pretty slow today. What's the matter . . . the defeat of your team gettin' to ya'?"**_

_** Poor X was totally unprepared for Raven's eyes flashing a brilliant crimson.**_

_** Now she was mad. Raven might have been willing to grant him mercy before (albeit with a lot of begging on his part) but he had crossed the line with that stupid nickname and the flippant condensation of her teammates. **_

_** It was official now; Red-X was dead.**_

Raven came at our dear X with everything she had.

Red-X might have gotten better since they last had fought, but he had invoked one of Raven's most dangerous, unstable, and powerful fighting stages . . . he was no match for Raven when all of her attacks were powered by **Rage**.

X just barely managed to dodge her first assault, but after that it became nigh impossible to avoid her.

He had no chances whatsoever to retaliate, and so settled for frantically and desperately defending himself, all the while trying his hardest to keep up his cocky demeanor.

It took him about four minutes to realize his efforts were absolutely fruitless, but when he finally came to grips with this depressing reality, his supply of weaponry was dismally low, save for one thing . . .

. . . One thing that might just save his ass.

His mind made up, X "allowed" himself to be spread-eagled against the wall by Raven's dark, demonic energy.

Just as she was rocketing in for the killing blow, her glowing red eyes leaving eerie after-images in the dimly-lit room, Red-X dropped something on the floor. An odd red dust cloud billowed out into the enclosed space, hiding the villain from view.

It collided with the Titaness's own attack, and blew the entire thing sky-high.

The last thing both Red-X and the half-demoness saw was a flash of blinding, pure white light.

It engulfed them both with the same effect of a nuclear explosion, and they knew no more.

#? #? #? #? #? #? #? #? #?

It was finally Friday, which meant that every member of Young Justice was sure to be found _somewhere_ in the League's old base, awaiting their next mission. _Unfortunately_, the base just so happened to be inside an entire freaking mountain, which also meant it contained many-a hidey hole. And it was because of this that Batman was having such a hard time hunting them down.

Due to the apparent betrayal of Red Tornado a few weeks ago, the hideout had been severely trashed and the intercoms had yet to be brought back online, forcing Batman to seek them out himself.

When he at last found them all an hour later, he assembled them in a small control room off the main one.

"This is your new mission," Batman said in his usual monotone. "Watch closely."

The (mostly) super-powered teenagers turned their attention to the screens, which seemed to be displaying footage of a rather intense battle. The images weren't clear enough to see what was going on, and there was no sound, so for the most part what transpired was lost on the team.

All that they (_ahem_, Robin) had managed to gather was that the fight began with a flash of light, and ended about thirty seconds later. On screen, the images went fuzzy and then blank.

The annoying _hiss_ of static filled the room. Kid Flash was the first to say anything, "So, what was that all about?"

"We're not sure what happened here, but ever since two unknowns fell fighting each other, we've been unable to get any closer because of some kind of barrier one of them erected. It encompasses them both, but Martian Manhunter can tell it has slowly begun to fade and retract into its caster, though we are unclear on which one of the two fighters that is.

"Your job is to be there when the force field disappears completely. You must apprehend these two individuals, and return here with them. Use whatever means necessary, but we want them alive. Any questions?" he finished.

"Sir, if I may be so bold," Aqualad began, "is it not unwise to appear hostile should they wake up? What if they are potential allies? May we have permission to talk to them firs –"

"No," Batman cut him off. "You have your orders. Here are the coordinates."

The formerly blank screen flashed a set of numbers. Batman looked each of them in the eye, a menacing aura surrounding him, "Do not disobey. Head out immediately."

And he was gone.

#? #? #? #? #? #? #? #? #?

The silence in the bio ship was tense, to say the least.

A brooding Robin broke it by muttering, "There's something they're not telling us," under his breath.

"I agree," Aqualad said.

"I know, right? This whole mission doesn't sit well with me. Whatever it is the League is keeping from us must be really important –" Kid Flash began to rant.

"Wally, shut up," Artemis ordered jadedly.

He grunted and nothing more was said for the remainder of the ride.

When they at last arrived on the coast of California, the mood had lightened slightly due to Robin and Kid Flash's efforts.

As the bio ship gracefully descended on their destination – which just so happened to be a field – Young Justice jumped out eagerly.

Kid Flash and Robin hurtled toward the open meadow . . . and stopped dead.

They blinked.

"Uh," KF said, "Weren't there supposed to be two of them?"

Sure enough, in the center of the field, all that could be seen was _one_ small, huddled form.

**Well . . . there you have it. Yeah. So . . . Imma go think of ways for Red-X to annoy YJ Robin. Wish me luck~!**

**Peace.**


	3. Chapter 3: WY

**Wow, it's been a while since I last updated, but here I am! To be honest, I was a little stuck on this chapter, but I got it done in a flash of inspiration and I hope you like it. Thanks for all your support! I'm really jazzed about this story!**

**P.S. I'll also update WTH? sometime in the next week, so stay tuned!**

**P.P.S. For the disclaimer, I have kidnapped/acquired Batman and Wonder Woman (my new favorite pairing!) to do the honors!**

**B-man: Get on with it, woman. I've got important brooding to do back at the Cave.**

**Diana: *slaps the back of his head* Bruce! That is no way to talk to a woman!**

**B-man: *slightly sheepish* Sorry, Diana.**

**Diana: That's better. Now, let's get down to business. Oh, HBAW, come here, Athena-blessed sister!**

**HBAW (a.k.a. me): *steps forward warily* Okay . . . **

**Diana: *pulls out her Lasso of Truth and captures HBAW when she tries to escape* Now, I want you to be honest - not that you have a choice. Do you own us or anything super-hero-related?**

**HBAW: *struggles valiantly against the Lasso of Truth, but is forced to admit defeat* No, I don't own anything except a Batman t-shirt I bought at Walmart! Are you happy now?!**

**Diana: *releases a sobbing HBAW* Yes, actually. Thank you. Let's go, Bruce: I believe you owe me a dance.**

**B-man: *smirks* I suppose I do.**

**THE MORAL TO THIS DISCLAIMER: Wonder Woman is scary with that Lasso of her's!**

**CHAPTER THREE: WHO'RE YOU?**

_** Last chapter re-cap:**_

_** "Uh," KF said, "Weren't there supposed to be two of them?"**_

_** Sure enough, in the center of the field, all that could be seen was one small, huddled form.**_

#? #? #? #? #? #? #? #? #?

Aqualad frowned, "Miss Martain, please do a scan of the surrounding area."

"On it," she replied cheerfully. She placed her green hands on her temples and concentrated until her eyes flashed white. The rest of the team waited patiently (except for Kid Flash, who was being too loud and got hit over the head by Artemis).

A few seconds later her eyes returned to normal. She looked confused.

"There's someone in that tree," she said, indicating a tall redwood a few feet away, "but for some reason I can't access their mind –" she suddenly looked startled "—They're gone!"

Alarmed, Young Justice immediately spread out and prepared for battle, glancing nervously at shadows; waiting for something to happen. Nothing and no one moved for five whole minutes before Aqualad signaled that they relax, but remain on high alert.

The team slowly did as commanded and crept toward the prone figure in the middle of the meadow.

"Don't come any closer," a voice startled the young heroes and made them jump.

A shadow dropped down from the trees and landed heavily in front of them. It straightened slowly, as though it was in great pain. Its left arm was pulled tight to its side as though it was broken, and its outfit looked trashed, but the shadows prevented Young Justice from confirming anything.

Then the figure shifted, and a patch of sunlight fell on it briefly, illuminating a skull mask with an unusual red X stitched on the forehead, oriented slightly to the left side of the center. A moment later the frightening mask disappeared into the shadows, too quickly for the Team to make out anything else.

"Who are you?" The shadow-figure spoke in an odd, slightly mechanical voice that made all of them jump (Robin narrowed his eyes: it sounded like the mystery guy was using a voice modulator), then glance at each other in confusion. Of course, the existence of their team was supposed to be top-secret, but surely at least the Boy Wonder was easily recognizable. Why was this guy acting like he had never seen any of them before?

"We mean you no harm," Aqualad said soothingly, hands up in the universal sign for 'we come in peace. See, no weapons?' "However, we need you to come with us. We will take you to a safe place."

Skull Mask (as Robin had dubbed him) snorted; obviously unconvinced, "Yeah, right. You didn't answer my question."

The dark-skinned teen sighed; he might as well get it over with. "I am Aqualad," he said. "This is –"

Skull Mask interrupted him by snorting incredulously again. "If you're Aqualad, then that makes me a Good Samaritan."

Young Justice exchanged glances, completely bewildered. What was this guy talking about?

"What do you mean by that?" Aqualad asked carefully.

"Well, for one thing," Skull Mask replied sarcastically, "Aqualad has dark hair and eyes. And he's pale. Oh, and he also doesn't have any tattoos."

Kaldur's brow furrowed: why did this stranger seem to think that his best friend Garth was Aqualad? As far as he knew, Garth didn't have the slightest bit of interest in becoming a superhero. Perhaps this man had been hit over the head one too many times during his last fight with the mysterious cloaked figure lying in the meadow about 20 yards away? But that still didn't explain how he knew what Garth looked like . . . .

Robin, having noticed that Aqualad was too confused to continue, took it upon himself to carry out the introductions.

"As he was saying, the lady over there in the blue cape is Miss Martian, the scowling one is Superboy, the blonde is Artemis, the yellow one is Kid Flash," Skull Mask cocked his head slightly in curiosity when the speedster was introduced, "and I am Robin."

For a moment, there was complete silence in the clearing, and then Skull Mask made a funny choking noise and started shaking. It took the Team a while to realize that Skull Mask wasn't having a seizure – as a matter of fact, he was laughing! Quite hard, too.

The odd mechanical quality of his voice made it sound strange, but he was indeed laughing! Robin couldn't help but feel miffed – was this weirdo laughing at him? Why? He looked over at his Team, but they just shrugged and continued staring at the guy until Kid Flash couldn't take it anymore and stepped forward.

"Hey," Wally said sharply, annoyed, "what's so funny?"

Slowly Skull Mask straightened up and fought to regain control of his breathing again.

"Nothing," he replied, "It's just that –"

Suddenly the eye slits of Skull's mask narrowed and he leaped to the side, just in time to avoid being thrown into the redwood he had been perched in previously by a wall a black energy. All eyes snapped immediately to the source of the attack.

The cloaked figure in the meadow was standing with its arm outstretched and pointing at the spot where Skull Mask had stood a moment ago. Young Justice was instantly on alert and ready to attack. They heard a tired sigh coming from somewhere above their heads, and they all looked up to see that Skull Mask had somehow made it about fifteen feet up the closest redwood tree in about two seconds.

"What is he?" Artemis wondered aloud, "Some kind of ninja?"

Skull Mask leaped down in front of them again and this time stepped into the sunlight, allowing the Team to see what he really looked like.

There wasn't much to see, unfortunately, because the small amount of skin that _was_ showing was covered in dried blood, forcing them to guess at what his skin color might be.

His outfit – a full black suit with a matching cape that was gray on the inside, a red X over his heart, gray gloves, boots, and a silver belt – really _was_ trashed; it looked as though it had recently gone through a paper shredder. Some of the seams had split and the black fabric was torn up beyond repair.

Despite the situation, Kid Flash and Robin couldn't help but be a little sympathetic; they knew all too well how it felt to be that roughed up. Speaking of which, who was their most recent attacker; the one who had tried to flatten Skull Mask into a tree?

Intentionally or not, Skull Mask answered their question with his next statement, "I see you're up and about, Sunshine. Ready to go again?"

Sunshine was an unusual name, but it was the strain in Skull Mask's voice that caught the Team's attention; whatever this "Sunshine" was capable of, it seemed that Skull Mask didn't think he was going to be able to last long against her.

Their mind made up in an instant, the Team stepped forward: placing themselves in between Skull Mask and the mysterious "Sunshine," whose gender was confirmed when she replied.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked in a dangerous monotone. "Move; this is none of your business."

A dangerous aura surrounded her, "And don't you dare call me Sunshine. I swear it'll be the last thing you ever do."

More convinced than ever that "Sunshine" was a threat, Young Justice didn't budge, and Skull Mask was too exhausted to argue.

When it became obvious that they weren't going to change their minds, the cloaked girl's shoulders sagged as she sighed heavily; apparently dreading what she was about to do next.

"Don't take this personally," she said quietly, and then Young Justice's eyes rolled back in their heads and they collapsed onto the ground. X looked from them, to Raven, and back again before he had the strength to open his mouth.

"Well," he said, "that was anti-climactic. I have to say Raven: I never knew you had it in you. I'm so proud I think I could cry –"

"Shut up, X," Raven grumbled. She started toward him slowly, carefully stepping over the unconscious bodies of the young heroes. As she drew closer, X began to scramble backwards in a pathetic attempt to escape.

"Now, now, Raven, you know I never meant any harm. Why don't we try to sort this out like, good, civilized –"

"I said shut up, X," Raven growled, her eyes flashing red for a moment. Remembering what had happened last time he'd seem those eyes, Red X wisely did as he was told. He slumped to the ground in defeat. He knew when he was beat, and while he didn't like it one bit, he was more afraid of what she was going to do to him than anything the law could ever dish out for his petty crimes.

When she finally reached him, however, Raven surprised him by kneeling at his side and helping him sit up. She placed a gentle hand on his lower back to steady him and covered her other hand in her trademark black energy before setting about healing him to the best of her ability.

Red X couldn't help but relax as Raven's surprisingly soothing magic seeped into him and began to repair the damage her little rampage and his dumb idea had caused.

For the longest time neither of them said anything, and just watched in fascination as every wound Raven's hands passed over was healed. Eventually, though, X felt the need to break the awkward silence.

"Um, thanks?" he said tentatively. Raven gave him a tight smile and continued to focus on healing him.

"So . . ." Red X tried again, more sure of himself seeing as she didn't seem about to blow up at him. "What was that all about?"

He gestured to the unconscious idiots (in his opinion) that had tried to protect him from Raven's wrath. While he had been touched that they cared, he still thought they were fools for trying to take a stand for him; a criminal.

X's broken arm screamed in protest at his sudden move and made him hiss in pain. Raven frowned and immediately brought her hands over the area where the bone was broken. Unfortunately, it was all she could do to reset the bone in its proper location; she was too tired to heal it completely.

Sweating a little bit, Raven sat back on her haunches and caught her breath before she replied.

"To put it simply, I had to knock them out for their own good."

X cocked his head, incredulous.

"Uh-huh," he drawled. "And that would be because . . . ?"

He trailed off and Raven answered quietly, "Let's just say that you were about to mess things up pretty bad and the only safe way out for all of us was to keep them from getting in the way."

Red X bristled; what kind of a lame excuse was that? And why was she pinning all the blame on him? What had _he_ done wrong? X said as much, trying very hard to control his temper.

"What do you mean, I was gonna screw things over?! All I was trying to do was protect –" X shut his mouth abruptly and looked away from Raven's surprised, (and beautiful, he admitted grudgingly) amethyst eyes. He could practically feel her amusement as she recovered from her shock and returned to being cool as a cucumber. Before she could say anything to further demolish what little pride he had left, X cut her off.

"Forget I just said that, understood?" he growled tersely. He saw Raven hesitate for a moment; obviously fighting the knee-jerk heroes-make-fun-of-bad-guys reaction the Titans were so famous for in the Underworld. Thankfully, though, her inner-graciousness (not that she probably had much) won out and she nodded her head. Disaster adverted, Red X decided to change the subject.

"But really, what did you mean about me messing things up? What things were you talking about?"

The smug look on Raven's face faded and was replaced by utmost seriousness.

"I'll have to fill you in on that later," she said. She began to help him to his feet, allowing him to use her as a crutch of sorts.

"Right now," she continued, "we need to get out of here; who knows when whoever sent these guys –" Raven nodded her head at the colorfully dressed teens on the ground "—will decide to show up."

Red X knew she was right and didn't bother to argue. Instead he tightened his hold on her as black energy wrapped around them both and they teleported away.

#? #? #? #? #? #? #? #? #?

Not fifteen minutes after Red X and Raven disappeared; Raven's prediction came true when another group appeared on the scene.

Batman, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, Zatanna, and Zatara exited Zatara's teleportation circle and hurried over to the downed heroes.

Martian Manhunter conducted a quick scan on each of them before turning to the others and reporting what he'd found.

"It is quite peculiar," he said. "As far as I can tell, they are all unharmed, though a strange magical signature was present in each of their minds when I examined them. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before, but I will have to investigate later."

Batman nodded, "Good. Let's get them back to Base."

As the others went to work preparing the Team for transport, Zatanna turned to her father and asked him quietly, "Dad, did you feel that too?"

Zatara nodded gravely, "Indeed I did."

His daughter gasped, "Then that means –!"

"Let's not be hasty and jump to conclusions, my dear," he interrupted firmly. "I will have to investigate further until I am absolutely sure my theory is correct. For now, be patient and do not cause a panic."

She nodded and he walked away to help the others. Before she joined them, Zatanna cast one nervous glance around the meadow.

Why, she wondered, would there be a demon's energy in a place like this? Although it was so faint, she could be mistaken . . . . Zatanna shook her head to clear it. She couldn't worry about this right now: she had to focus on helping her new team get safely back to Mount Justice.

Butterflies filled her stomach. Of course there was the little fact that they didn't even know she was their new teammate yet . . . . Would they accept her?

As she took in how pale all of them were, Zatanna found herself praying she wouldn't have to wait long to find out.

**Sorry if the end's a little confusing; feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I told you Zatanna'd show up! In other news; high school started and I can already feel myself losing my sanity. You know how long my first swim meet of the season lasted? 7. Freaking. Hours. Gah!**

**Anyway, happy Labor Day and feliz cumpleanos a mi hermana!**

**P.S. Press the button below and gain good karma!**


	4. Chapter 4: LaL

**Holy smokes, it's been a while! Haha, sorry about that; I've been having a problem with the story line and I just couldn't decide what to do until I realized, hey, I could just ask you guys! So, please see the IMPORTANT note at the BOTTOM for more information! Thank you in advance. ;)**

**Also, this chapter might be a little confusing. I tried to make it as straight-forward as possible, but if you are still confused by anything feel free to let me know and I will be happy to explain it to you!**

**Disclaimer: I do not under any circumstances own Young Justice or the Teen Titans, but I do own this awesome electric blanket as of yesterday. Happy Holidays! **

**CHAPTER FOUR: LISTEN AND LEARN**

_**Last chapter re-cap:**_

_**Why, she wondered, would there be a demon's energy in a place like this? Although it was so faint, she could be mistaken . . . . Zatanna shook her head to clear it. She couldn't worry about this right now: she had to focus on helping her new team get safely back to Mount Justice.**_

_**Butterflies filled her stomach. Of course there was the little fact that they didn't even know she was their new teammate yet . . . . Would they accept her?**_

_**As she took in how pale all of them were, Zatanna found herself praying she wouldn't have to wait long to find out.**_

#? #? #? #? #? #? #? #? #?

It took a week for all of Young Justice to awaken from their magic-induced comas. To the great concern of their mentors, each of the Team had no memory of what had transpired since leaving Mount Justice until about two hours after they regained consciousness. When their memories finally returned all of them had been lounging around the kitchen waiting for their mentors to spill the beans on the cause of their amnesia.

Suddenly, starting from M'gann, something in each of their minds shattered and in an instant they _remembered_. Each of the Team suddenly found themselves in a long tunnel filled with flickering images and brief snatches of sound.

It took M'gann only an instant to realize she had somehow been transported into her mind and was in fact looking at a "hall" filled with her memories. She only had a moment to gape in awe before something pulled hard on her navel and she was transported at eye-watering speed down the tunnel.

Images became a colored blur around her and all sounds were completely blocked out as she was dragged forward; totally at the mercy of the strange tugging. _Is this what Wally sees when he runs?_ M'gann wondered, trying not to get motion sick and turn even greener (the irony). _If so, I don't envy him. _

Just as she was about to lose consciousness from vertigo, the tugging suddenly stopped and she stumbled forward before collapsing on her knees. It took M'gann a few moments to regain control of her roiling stomach and allow the world to stop spinning before she was brave enough to look up and examine her surroundings.

She was still in the memory-tunnel, but something told M'gann she was almost at the end of it. Her theory was confirmed when she glanced around and recognized some of the images flashing on the walls as events that had transpired recently; her and Conner having a romantic moment, and then a brief explosion that M'gann remembered was from the failed . . . mission simulation when Artemis had "died" and M'gann's mind powers had overreacted and turned the simulation into "real life." M'gann shook her head to get rid of that train of thought and instead focused on the tunnel wall in front of her.

Interesting . . . . There appeared to be a gap in her memories recently; there was a dark spot on the wall that interrupted the memory reflections. On one side of the gap M'gann could see herself receiving the mission from Batman to capture the two mysterious unknowns and then taking off in the Bioship with the rest of the Team, but that was where her memories abruptly ended and then restarted on the other side of the gap when M'gann woke up in the infirmary less than three hours ago.

Something possessed M'gann to reach out and touch the black space on the wall. The moment she did, the blackness exploded toward her.

Startled, M'gann leaped back and dodged the mass of blackness before it had the chance to clobber her in the head. She moved out of the way just in time; the strange mass smashed into the wall where she had just been standing and splattered on impact. It immediately reformed into a large bird of some kind and rushed off down the tunnel before suddenly dispersing.

Shaken, M'gann turned back to the wall and was shocked to see that where the blackness had previously been was a new set of images that were oddly familiar and yet _not_. Before she had time to comprehend anymore, M'gann's head exploded in pain and she was forced out of her mind and back into her body.

As she regained consciousness, M'gann became aware that there was a female voice she had never heard before chanting something in the background. M'gann opened her eyes and was surprised find that she was back in the infirmary. Groaning at the throbbing pain in her head, M'gann sluggishly glanced around and realized that the entire Team was also in the infirmary; tucked securely into hospital beds.

Robin, Kid Flash, Artemis, and Superboy were already awake and being tended to by Black Canary and Red Tornado. Kaldur was lying in the bed next to her and appeared to still be asleep. Two figures stood at the head of his bed; their hands resting lightly on his forehead. Judging from what she could see of their silhouettes, M'gann deduced that one was a girl and the other a man. The man was the only one of the two she could see clearly, and by twisting a bit she managed to catch a glimpse of his face.

The man looked perhaps a little past middle-aged, and had stern, elegant features. He was wearing an outfit resembling a magician's costume, but that was all M'gann was able to see before he shifted out of her line of sight. Alarmed that she did not recognize the duo, M'gann struggled to focus and hear what they were saying.

Only one of the two appeared to be talking, and as far as M'gann could tell the girl was speaking in gibberish.

"Enogeb nomed. Enogeb nomed," the girl murmured over and over again. In the back of her mind, M'gann realized that it was this girl who she had heard chanting when she woke up.

_What are they doing to Kaldur?_ M'gann wondered. She glanced around furtively to see if anyone was alarmed at the mystery duo's presence, but relaxed when she saw her other team members watching them curiously but without suspicion. She caught Superboy's eye and set up a mental link with him.

_Conner_, M'gann thought, _what's going on?_

_M'gann!_ Superboy replied, and she could feel his relief_. I don't know what's going on. One minute I was watching the static on T.V. and the next I was waking up here. Again._

M'gann couldn't help but giggle at his annoyance, and Conner offered her a small smile in return.

_Anyway_, he continued, _I talked to Robin while you were still sleeping and he said that these two _(he sent a mental image of the people standing by Kaldur)_ were called here to help us "return to the world of the living" as he put it_.

M'gann nodded. _Okay_, she thought, _that makes sense._ She was just about to ask Conner if he was alright when a sudden mental surge from Kaldur broke her concentration and she turned to look at him out of the corner of her eye.

Kaldur's brow was wrinkled and he looked as though he was in pain. The chanting of the duo standing over him suddenly reached a fever pitch as the man joined in with the girl. A few seconds later, Kaldur's eyes flew open and the two stopped chanting and removed their hands from his forehead. They stepped back and allowed Black Canary to rush to his side and administer pain-killers.

Twenty minutes later, when they had all recovered enough to be debriefed, the Team found themselves back in the main room of the Base where the Boom Tubes were located. Batman was explaining the situation to them.

"This," he began, gesturing toward the two magicians (who looked so alike they had to be related), "is Zatara and his daughter Zatanna. Both of them are users of magic. Zatara is a League member and Zatanna will be joining this team."

There was a small ripple of surprise at this, but no one said anything. M'gann eyed Zatanna with curiosity. She was pretty, with long raven hair and blue eyes. She was about the same height as Artemis and she looked nice enough. M'gann could tell from the flush on Zatanna's cheeks that she was nervous.

_Maybe she's anxious we won't accept her?_ M'gann wondered to herself. _Nonsense._ The Martian vowed then and there to help Zatanna feel as comfortable as possible.

Batman, satisfied that no one was going to interrupt, continued speaking.

"About a week ago, this Team was sent on a mission to retrieve two unknown and possibly hostile individuals from their last known location and bring them back to Base. Unfortunately, the unknowns knocked all of you unconscious and escaped. When Red Tornado, Zatara, Zatanna, Martian Manhunter, and I arrived at the scene, we found all of you passed out and unharmed.

"Immediately, Martian Manhunter did a preliminary scan on each of you and discovered that magic of some kind had tampered with your minds. After searching the area for clues, we determined that the unknowns had disappeared without a trace. Afterwards, we brought you back to Mount Justice and waited for you to wake up. When you did, it was discovered that a portion of your memories had been erased. For some reason, it took two hours after you woke up to regain your memories. Zatanna and Zatara assisted you with that process."

Young Justice remained silent, slightly bitter over their failure. Batman didn't give them much time to mope, however.

"Now," he said. "I need one of you to tell me what happened between when you left Mount Justice and when you returned. Elect a spokesperson and meet back here in two hours."

The Team nodded and quietly filed out of the room and back to the lounge/kitchen. Zatanna looked unsure on whether or not to follow, so M'gann flashed the girl a smile and waved at her to join them. The black-haired girl gave her a relieved smile in return and quietly took a seat next to Artemis at the bar.

For a while, no one spoke. Instead, they contemplated their newly reinstated memories and waited for someone to snap them out of their depressed state. Surprisingly, it was Artemis who took the plunge.

"Look," she said. "I am just as pissed off as the rest of you that we got our butts handed to us and our memories wiped, but we need to ignore our pride for the moment and think. What happened and who is going to be our spokesperson?"

Kaldur took his cue as team leader and spoke up, "Artemis is right," he said softly. "It will not do us any good to wallow in self-pity. Let us instead focus on what can be done here and now.

"I think it would be best if we each report what we witnessed one at a time, but first," his eyes fell on Zatanna, "as team leader I would like to welcome Zatanna to Young Justice."

Immediately, some of the pent-up tension in the room evaporated as Robin and Kid Flash grinned and returned to their normal energetic selves.

"Welcome to the Team, gorgeous," Kid Flash sped to her side and casually threw an arm around her shoulders. Artemis rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the side. They started arguing and Zatanna raised her eyebrows at their antics. She couldn't keep the amused smile off her face when Robin proclaimed that they should "get a room already," which caused them to go red and look away in a huff.

M'gann surprised Zatanna by offering her a cookie. The Martian called Superboy over to introduce himself and he did so, albeit gruffly. Wally appeared at her shoulder again and offered to show her the Souvenir Room, but then he was roped into an argument with Robin about which souvenir was cooler.

This continued for a good five minutes and by the time Kaldur called the group to order, Zatanna found herself feeling surprisingly at ease around her new teammates. The mood went from lighthearted to fiercely-determined when they finally got around to discussing what had happened on their botched mission.

Kaldur began by saying, "As a courtesy, let us begin by filling our new teammate in on what happened before we boarded the Bioship."

He briefly explained the mission parameters and the short video clip of the fight between the two unknowns. Then he began to recount the entire mission, beginning from the moment they realized one of the unknowns was missing to their last memory of the mysterious cloaked girl apologizing to them.

"We arrived at the unknowns' coordinates shortly after 2:00 P.M. EST and immediately noticed that something was wrong," Kaldur began.

"From what we could see," he continued, "only one of the unknowns was accounted for. As we approached the unknown to apprehend her, the other unknown appeared and warned us not to get any closer. For some reason, the unknown did not appear to recognize us and thought that my friend Garth was supposed to be Aqualad. After that the other unknown woke up and attacked us. We determined that the unknowns were not allies and stepped in to protect the male unknown.

"The last thing I recall is the female unknown apologizing to us before knocking us out. Did I miss anything?" he finished.

"Just one thing," Wally said. "Uh, should we mention what they looked like, 'cause, I mean, they weren't exactly dressed inconspicuously."

Kaldur nodded, "That is a good point. Can I leave that to you, Robin?"

The smallest member of Young Justice gave a mischievous smile, "Yessir." And with that he set about fiddling with his wristwatch/computer/hacking device/awesome Wayne Tech. contraption.

Satisfied, Kaldur turned back to the rest of the Team.

"I vote Kaldur as spokesperson," Artemis said immediately. Her vote was quickly seconded by everyone else.

"Is there anything else?" Kaldur asked.

"Yeah," Superboy said. He turned from his position on the couch to look at Zatanna. "How did you help us get our memories back?"

Zatanna gave a wry smile. "I didn't really," she admitted. "You guys did most of the work; I just helped you get past some of the magical barriers."

Superboy frowned. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

Zatanna took a few moments to collect her thoughts before she began to explain.

"My theory," she said, "is that you guys went up against a powerful sorceress of some kind. This is just a guess based on the strength of the magic I faced when I was helping you get your memories back, but I'm at least positive that whoever you fought was a Dark Magic-user."

"Dark Magic-user," Wally mumbled. "Hey, isn't that kind of like Klarion?"

"Klarion the Witch Boy," Zatanna replied in a low voice, "is not just any sorcerer. He is a force of Chaos itself; a demon not of this plane. It is true that he does practice Dark Magic, but his is more of a dangerous, uncontrollable kind that is exhausting to fight."

She took a breath before saying grimly, "When fighting a Dark Magic-user of any kind, it is best not to allow any of their spells to touch you. Some magic can eat away at you even after its caster is dead, so it's a good idea to steer clear of it."

"Gruesome," Robin muttered as he focused on fiddling with his arm-gadget, "But it sounds like good advice to me."

A brief silence descended over the group. M'gann broke it by asking something that had been bothering her for quite some time.

"Why do you think we can suddenly remember what happened?" she asked.

"Perhaps the person responsible for our amnesia required concentration to continue the spell," Kaldur replied.

"I bet it was that cloaked girl," KF stated.

"That is the most likely suspect," Kaldur began, but Artemis rolled her eyes at Wally and said, "I think we already established that, genius."

Wally bristled, but Zatanna interrupted before another fight could break out, "If you're right, then something must have broken her concentration."

The Team nodded: that made sense. Eventually, Artemis spoke up again.

"I wonder who they were," she said softly. The others nodded in agreement. Kid Flash decided to voice a theory.

"Maybe they were more Cadmus projects," he said. Connor stiffened.

"I mean, think about it," Wally continued. "They could be meta-human clones or hybrids that got loose and started fighting for some reason."

The others looked skeptical, but admitted that that was indeed a possibility.

"If that's true," M'gann said, "then why do you think they turned on each other?"

"Perhaps they had a disagreement," Kaldur said.

"Must have been a pretty serious disagreement," Wally muttered. Artemis elbowed him. Then she remembered something.

"Zatanna," she began, but Robin interrupted her with a victorious whoop and his signature cackle.

"I got it!" he exclaimed. "Heh heh, I knew it was in here somewhere. Good thing Batman has trained me to be paranoid."

The others sweat-dropped a little at his last comment, but stood up one by one and wandered over to look over his shoulder. They couldn't see anything interesting on his little computer screen, but they figured that anything that excited Robin had to be important.

"What is it, Robin?" Kaldur asked.

The masked enigma flashed them all a mischievous grin and brandished his wrist-computer triumphantly.

"I got it," he repeated. "I found the audio of the day we met those two unknowns. The recording's still intact."

A chorus of "Really?", "No way!", and "Good job, dude!" was heard from the now rejuvenated teenagers.

"Is there a way we could all listen to it, Robin?" Zatanna asked excitedly. The Boy Wonder nodded and headed over to the T.V. After a few minutes of rearranging the wires and connecting them to his computer, Robin had successfully hooked up the speakers to his handy-dandy digital device. The Team re-seated themselves and leaned forward in anticipation.

With a flourish, Robin pressed a button and suddenly the Team could hear Artemis and Wally arguing about something. The two blushed and looked away when everyone turned to glance at them. A few moments later Kaldur could be heard telling the Team about how to approach the unknowns.

There was silence for a few minutes and then Wally could be heard saying, _"Weren't there supposed to be two of them?"_

Kaldur asked M'gann to scan the area, and the group heard her alarmed shout of, _"There's someone in that tree, but for some reason I can't access their mind – they're gone!"_

The Team heard the rustling of grass as they approached the only visible unknown. Suddenly, a slight thud was heard, followed by a strange mechanical voice.

"_Don't come any closer,"_ it warned.

"Skull Mask," Robin said grimly. Everyone gave him strange looks.

"What?" Robin shrugged, "He needed a name, so I came up with one."

"Good one, Rob," Wally snickered. Robin smirked and the two bumped fists.

The others shook their heads at them in mock-exasperation and returned their attention to the audio recording.

They heard Aqualad begin introductions, followed by "Skull Mask's" confusing rant on the 'real' Aqualad. After Robin took it upon himself to continue the introductions and ended up getting laughed at, there was a short burst of static.

Robin shrugged at the Team's raised eyebrows, "The magic that cloaked girl was using must have interfered with the system."

"So this is when she attacked you?" Zatanna asked.

"Yup," Kid Flash replied.

"Can you tell me anything about the magic she used, such as the color or the form it took?"

"Uh, all I can remember is that it was a wave of black that came right at us."

Zatanna narrowed her eyes, "A wave of black, huh? Well that doesn't narrow down the suspects list, but it does confirm that the girl used a form of dark magic."

Just then the Team heard a new voice on the recording, and realized the mysterious girl was talking.

"_What do you think you are doing? Move; this is none of your business."_

"She doesn't sound like a 'Sunshine' to me," Wally muttered, referring to the name Skull Mask had called her by earlier. Artemis elbowed him with a look that said "shut up." With a huff, he complied.

"_Don't take this personally."_ This statement was followed by a burst of static and several thuds. The Team bristled; this was obviously when they had been knocked unconscious. Despite the reminder of their humiliation, the teens kept their tempers in check; because from here on they had had no clue about what happened.

There was a moment of silence on the audio, then –.

"_Well,"_ Skull Mask said, _"that was anti-climactic. I have to say Raven: I never knew you had it in you. I'm so proud I think I could cry –"_

Aqualad tilted his head. "Raven," he said slowly. "Perhaps that is her real name."

The others nodded; it was a fair assumption.

_"Shut up, X,"_ 'Raven' grumbled. There was a slight rustling sound, as though something close by was trying to awkwardly move very fast.

"What kind of a name is X?" Robin asked, looking rather annoyed. Surely the guy who laughed at him had to have a cooler name than that.

_"Now, now, Raven, you know I never meant any harm. Why don't we try to sort this out like, good, civilized –"_ 'X' sounded nervous for some reason. Perhaps Raven was threatening him again?

_"I said shut up, X,"_ Raven growled. The rustling stopped and the Team got the sense that X had admitted defeat. A strange buzzing began, and the teens realized Raven must have been using her powers again. For what, they didn't know. This continued for a while, until X spoke up again, sounding slightly awkward.

_"Um, thanks?"_ he said tentatively. There was silence for a moment, and then X continued.

"_So . . . what was that all about?"_ Here the Team could only assume he was referring to Raven knocking them out. Their suspicions were confirmed when she answered.

"_To put it simply, I had to knock them out for their own good."_

The Team raised their eyebrows; positive her excuse was a load of BS. Apparently X wasn't too convinced either.

"_Uh-huh,"_ he drawled. _"And that would be because . . . ?"_

He trailed off and Raven answered quietly, _"Let's just say that you were about to mess things up pretty bad and the only safe way out for all of us was to keep them from getting in the way."_

X seemed to take offense at this, and sounded none-too-happy when he replied, _"What do you mean, I was gonna screw things over?! All I was trying to do was protect –" _

The Team raised their eyebrows at this. So, X was trying to protect Raven, was he?

"Ooh," Wally sang, "Someone's got a crush."

Robin snorted and Artemis rolled her eyes at his immature-ness, but didn't do anything to stop him.

Apparently X realized his slip-up, and backtracked.

"_Forget I just said that, understood?"_ he growled tersely. Then he decided to change the subject.

"_But really, what did you mean about me messing things up? What things were you talking about?"_

"Yeah," Superboy muttered. "We'd like to know that too."

Unfortunately, Raven wasn't very forth-coming.

"_I'll have to fill you in on that later,"_ she said.

"_Right now,"_ she continued, _"we need to get out of here; who knows when whoever sent these guys –"_ the Team had the uncomfortable feeling she was referring to them _"—will decide to show up."_

There was another burst of static, and then a good bit of silence before the teens could hear Batman and the others arrive on the scene. Robin reached out and paused the audio.

Aqualad was the first to speak.

"What have we learned?" he asked the group in general.

"One thing's for sure," Artemis piped up, "whatever those two were before, they're definitely allies now."

Aqualad nodded, "Agreed. Anything else?"

"As far as we know," Robin said, "their names are X and Raven."

When no one else spoke up, Aqualad stood and said, "If that is all, I will go report to Batman."

"Hold on a minute," Robin said. He typed something onto his keyboard and pulled out a small device attached to the side of his computer. He held it out to Aqualad, who took it with a curious glance.

"It's a data chip," Robin explained, "It contains the audio clip and the one or two pictures of the unknowns I managed to get before my camera blanked."

The dark-skinned teen nodded in understanding and left the room to report to Batman, leaving the rest of the Team in silence until M'gann stood up and walked over to Zatanna.

"So," Miss Matian said, "can you cook?"

Zatanna smiled, "A little. Can you teach me?"

M'gann beamed, "Of course. Let's go."

As she began to lead the way into the kitchen, the duo passed by Zatara and Batman, who were discussing something in the main room of the cave.

Zatanna opened her mouth to say hello to her dad, but before she could speak an odd chanting filled the cave and Zatara and Batman fizzled out of existence.

Her eyes widened and she screamed.

"_Dad!"_

**Ooh, cliffie! Yeah, please don't kill me. In my defense this was the longest chapter yet (12 frickin' pages on Word) even though not much really happened in it. But, hey, we got a lead-in back to canon timeline and events, not that it'll be very canon for long. Muahahaha!**

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: POLL! Help me out, people! I can't decide who Red-X should be; Jason Todd or an OC of mine? Either way is fine by me but I need your help to decide. Head over to my PROFILE RIGHT NOW and cast your vote, please. Every vote counts! The poll will stay open until midnight on February 28, 2013. Tell your friends!**

**Anyvays, next chapter ve vill be focusing on vhat X and Raven have been up to vhile the Team was out cold . . . A lot can happen in a veek! Stay tuned! **


	5. Chapter 5: WNtH Part 1

**HELLO, EVERYONE! Just some quick notices, and then we'll get started! First of all, I divided this chapter into two parts, and will post the second part sometime this weekend. Second, I really apprectiate all of your support despite my abysmally sporadic update schedule - I will try my best to begin updating at least every month, give or take a week. It all depends on my amount of homework.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or Young Justice. If I did I would possess extreme talent for drawing people, and I don't so I can't possibly own either of these awesome shows.**

**Now, without further ado, READ ON TO FIND OUT THE IDENTITY OF RED-X!**

**CHAPTER FIVE: WE NEED TO HIDE Pt. 1**

_**Re-cap of the last we saw of Raven and Red-X:**_

"_**I'll have to fill you in on that later," Raven said. She began to help X to his feet, allowing him to use her as a crutch of sorts.**_

"_**Right now," she continued, "we need to get out of here; who knows when whoever sent these guys –" Raven nodded her head at the colorfully dressed teens on the ground "—will decide to show up."**_

_**Red X knew she was right and didn't bother to argue. Instead he tightened his hold on her as black energy wrapped around them both and they teleported away.**_

#? #? #? #? #? #? #? #? #?

When X woke up, he found himself lying in a bed that was not his own, inside an unfamiliar room. For a moment, he remained very still, trying to discern whether or not he was alone, and if he was – whether or not there were any cameras around. Either way, he kept his breathing deep and slow and made sure his heart did not speed up in an effort to fool whoever might be watching him. After a few minutes, X realized that he was indeed alone, and that there were no cameras in the vicinity. To be certain, he sent out a faint Xenothium pulse in order to short-circuit any nearby electronics.

Feeling slightly more at ease, X slowly sat up and scanned the room. It was small and rather run-down, with paint peeling on the walls and threadbare carpets lying on the floor. The only piece of furniture in the room was the four-poster bed on which he lay.

A grime-stained window on the far wall allowed watery sunlight to filter in, and from the position of the sun, X was able to discern that it was late-afternoon, perhaps five o'clock at the least.

_Where am I? _X wondered. _What happened? The last thing I remember is seeing those kiddy-hero-wannabes, and then Raven teleporting us away . . ._

His brow furrowed, and X realized that he couldn't remember anything after that. _How long have I been out for? _he wondered.

At a loss and slightly frustrated, X glanced down at his hands and was vaguely surprised to find them still encased in gray gloves. In fact, now that he thought about it, X was still dressed in the Xenothium suit. He brought his hands to his face and was both surprised and relieved to find that his mask was still there.

A smirk crossed his face and he marveled at Raven's sense of honor. Anyone else would have taken advantage of his vulnerability while he was out cold and would have at the least removed his mask to find out who he really was. _Not that it would matter_, he thought bitterly. _They could run my face through any computer-enhanced recognition system they wanted and I would never match any results because I'm dead_. The smirk twisted into something darker, though not quite a sneer. _Or at least, I'm supposed to be._

Nevertheless, X admired Raven for resisting temptation and leaving his identity a secret. _Speaking of Sunshine_, he thought, _where is she? Is she alright?_ X could have smacked himself for that last thought, but he was interrupted by his stomach, which growled rather dramatically and called X's attention to the fact that he was starving.

Slowly, X pushed himself off the bed and onto his feet. He was pleased to find that while he was a little shaky, everything seemed to be in order, his arm included. In fact, X hadn't felt so good in weeks.

Deciding that his need for nourishment was more important than anything else, X ghosted silently across the cheaply-carpeted floor until he arrived at the thin, also cheap, wooden door that led out of the room.

Cautiously, X pushed open the door as quietly as he could and peered into the hallway beyond. He reached out with his senses in search of any hint of life, but nothing stirred.

Deciding the coast was clear; X stole down the hallway past a small bathroom and found himself in a cramped living room that was connected with a small kitchen and another door that X assumed led to the pantry.

There was no sign of Raven anywhere. He was just beginning to panic when his eyes fell on a note taped to the fridge. He snatched it up and read it quickly;

_X,_

_If you wake up and I'm not there, stay put until I get back. Do not; I repeat DO NOT leave the apartment. Or else._

_There's food in the fridge. Hope you don't mind pizza. I should be back around 6 o'clock._

_Raven_

Chuckling at her attempt to threaten him, X decided he might as well stick around until she returned. He glanced at the clock – 5:38 P.M. She would be back soon anyway.

His mind made up, X opened the fridge and pulled out the leftover pizza that he found inside. He settled himself at the table and dug in, knowing she wouldn't bother to poison it. X allowed a dangerous smirk to cross his face: Raven owed him some answers and he couldn't wait to find out what she knew. Plus, annoying her was fun; her reactions were priceless.

#? #? #? #? #? #? #? #? #?

When Raven returned about half an hour later she found the empty pizza box on the kitchen table, the note she left crumpled on top. A horrible suspicion began to worm its way into her head and she searched the whole apartment frantically.

X was nowhere to be found.

_Oh, no_, she thought, _he didn't. He wouldn't _dare–. Her mild panic attack was interrupted by a familiar modulated mechanical voice coming from behind her.

"Where've you been, Sunshine?"

A wave of relief crashed over her and Raven slowly turned to see Red-X leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed, watching her. For a moment they just stood there in silence, considering each other, waiting for one of them to snap.

After a moment Raven sighed and made her way back into the kitchen, where she took a seat at the table. X didn't move from his spot on the wall, and instead followed her movements with his eyes.

It suddenly occurred to X that he had never seen Raven in anything but her uniform. At the moment she was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt, and he realized that while her revealing uniform was beyond flattering, Raven looked nice in civilian clothes too.

Her clothes weren't the only things to have changed. Somehow Raven had managed to make her chakra point disappear from her forehead and her skin had become a more normal pale compared to her usual ashen gray. X found that he missed her normal look. Raven's voice tore him away from his musings, and X had to refocus quickly in order to hear what she said.

"How are you feeling, X?" The question surprised him a little, but he took it in stride.

"Pretty good, actually. And yourself, Sunshine?" She ignored him in favor of giving him a once-over from top to bottom. He tried not to shudder as her eyes trailed over him.

"I'm surprised you stuck around," Raven said bluntly once she was done.

"Didn't have anything better to do," X shrugged nonchalantly. Then he allowed his demeanor to become serious, "Besides," he said in a commanding tone that brooked no argument, "I have some questions for you to answer, Sunshine."

Raven nodded in acceptance. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. She raised an eyebrow, "Well?"

X decided to stop thinking about how sexy she was when she was trying to be intimidating and get down to business.

"First," he said, "What the hell happened? Where are we?"

"We are in Richmond, Virginia. I teleported us here after we escaped from those kids back in California."

He raised an eyebrow, not that she could see it because of his mask, "Hmm. Okay, I'll buy that. How long was I out for?"

Raven looked thoughtful, "About two days."

"What have you been up to?"

Raven shrugged, "I've been taking care of you, for the most part. I got a job at a bookstore close to here, and that's taking care of the rent for this place, but it's only temporary."

X didn't bother to hide his shock, "You got a job? You're taking care of both of us? Why?"

She looked slightly scandalized, "Well, I wasn't about to leave you to fend for yourself. You were unconscious, remember? You may be a supervillian, but even you don't deserve to be dumped somewhere –"

X held up his hands in a placating gesture, "Whoa, whoa – hold your horses, Sunshine! Don't get your panties in a twist! While it's nice to know you care –" she glared at him – "I was just impressed, that's all. There aren't many people who would bother to go so far, even it wasn't for an enemy."

He'd meant it as a compliment, and by the way she blushed just a little bit, it was obvious that was how she saw it as well. _Good_, he thought idly, _she's warming up to me_.

Then he remembered something he'd been dying to ask, "What did you mean when you said that I was gonna screw things over?"

Raven looked resigned. She looked down at her hands and took a deep breath. After taking a moment to compose herself, she raised her eyes to meet his through the mask. X tensed unconsciously, realizing that whatever was going on was serious if it made _Raven_ pause.

"I'll be blunt," Raven said, looking him in the eye (through the mask, of course). "We are in a different dimension."

X stiffened and blinked.

_Well_, he thought, _that was unexpected, though I suppose I should've known, seeing as the Aqualad we saw is pretty much the exact opposite of the one on Titans East._

Out loud he said, "How?"

Raven shrugged, "When our last two attacks collided, the energy caused by the two opposing forces opened a wormhole and sucked us in. We just so happened to land in this dimension. What did you throw, by the way?"

She raised an eyebrow when X's emotions shifted from shocked and bemused to guilty and guarded. He turned his head to the side as he answered, "It was a . . . gift from a few colleagues of mine. I wasn't planning on using it on you, but, well," now he was emitting an aura of grudging admiration, "you forced my hand, Sunshine."

Raven resisted the urge to twitch at the nickname. Some cutlery rattled threateningly, but X didn't appear to be too concerned. Raven rolled her eyes; he could be surprisingly stubborn.

She felt an unexpected rush of warmth at that and immediately tamped down on it, suspicious-sounding giggles echoing in her head. Raven narrowed her eyes; it seemed she would have to figure out a way to talk to her emotions soon, preferably before they drove her insane.

X spoke again, interrupting her musings, "What do we do now, Sunshine?"

Raven shrugged, "We need to hide, all we can do for now is lay low and try to figure out a way back."

She glared at him, "I trust even you know how to keep a low profile, X."

His aura was suddenly tainted with dark humor, but it was gone almost as soon as she registered it.

"'Course I do, Sunshine," X replied. He slowly reached up to his mask, and she frowned in confusion: what was he doing? Her eyes widened as he slowly began to pull the black material off his face.

"And by the way, Raven," he continued, pulling the mask off to reveal a handsome face with a sharp chin, and the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. They were a gorgeous sea-green color and twinkled with laughter and . . . something else that she couldn't decipher. Black bangs parted naturally and flopped into his eyes, giving him a mysterious, bad boy look.

"Call me Jason. Jason Todd."

**Alright! How was that? Hopefully it wasn't too bland. Lemme know please! Also, now you all know the results of the poll (over 80% of you voted for Jason Todd as Red-X, so that's what I did). Thanks to everyone who voted! Your help was very appreciated! :D**

**_EDIT NOTICE_: TT Robin is now called Nightwing; Red X (Jason Todd) appeared in Jump City after being resurrected by Ra's, and before he became Red Hood. After he disappeared (read: moved away) from Jump City, a few months after Robin became Nightwing, X became Red Hood and the events of Batman: Under the Red Hood took place (NOTE: I used my author's creative license to make the events happen a couple years earlier than canon, so that the timeline works/fits). He disappeared again for a year and then the battle with the Titans took place, which sent X and Raven to Earth-16. **

**Let me know if you have any questions! Once agian, the second part is coming soon! ;)**

_**~ Home By Another Way**_


	6. Chapter 6: WNtH Part 2

**Here's Part 2 of We Need to Hide, as promised! Thanks again for all your support. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: No matter how much I might wish upon a star, I will never own Teen Titans or Young Justice.**

**CHAPTER SIX: WE NEED TO HIDE Pt. 2**

_**Last chapter re-cap:**_

_**X spoke again, interrupting her musings, "What do we do now, Sunshine?"**_

_**Raven shrugged, "We need to hide, all we can do for now is lay low and try to figure out a way back."**_

_**She glared at him, "I trust even you know how to keep a low profile, X."**_

_**His aura was suddenly tainted with dark humor, but it was gone almost as soon as she registered it.**_

"'_**Course I do, Sunshine," X replied. He slowly reached up to his mask, and she frowned in confusion: what was he doing? Her eyes widened as he slowly began to pull the black material off his face.**_

"_**And by the way, Raven," he continued, pulling the mask off to reveal a handsome face with a sharp chin, and the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. They were a gorgeous sea-green color and twinkled with laughter and . . . something else that she couldn't decipher. Black bangs parted naturally and flopped into his eyes, giving him a mysterious, bad boy look.**_

"_**Call me Jason. Jason Todd."**_

#? #? #? #? #? #? #? #? #?

The next few days fell into a routine, of sorts. Jason (Raven had to keep reminding herself that X was no longer a faceless mystery man – actually, he could be rather mysterious, now that she thought about it) got a job at a local mechanic shop, and bought some normal clothes at a thrift shop down the street.

Each morning Raven would wake up early, as per usual, and would make some herbal tea before fixing breakfast for the two of them. Jason would usually appear fully dressed the moment breakfast was ready (Raven found herself wondering if he had some kind of built-in sensor that went off whenever food was nearby), and the two would eat in companionable silence before they headed out to their separate jobs.

Jason insisted on being a gentleman and would always walk Raven to and from the bookstore where she worked. When she protested, Jason would smirk and say something along the lines of, "Don't get so worked up, Sunshine. This is for my own peace of mind," and would continue on walking, oblivious to her anger. Eventually Raven gave up and let him escort her to and from the bookstore without complaint.

When they got home at around six each evening, Raven, who had been practicing her cooking skills ever since her disastrous fourteenth birthday, would make a simple dinner and the two would eat in silence before Jason would start up a conversation of "safe topics," such as how her day was. They always avoided talking about "suspicious" things that could be overheard and reported to the police, which in turn would allow the League to discover them, which was something they wanted to avoid at all costs – Raven was adamant that contact with them was to be kept to a minimum, and Jason wasn't too thrilled about having a whole society of heroes on his tail, so he readily agreed.

It was quite difficult for Raven to reconcile the voice-modulated-villain, Red-X, with Jason, whose voice was rich and deep and sent chills down her spine (she really needed to have a serious talk with her emotions soon; this was getting out of hand). But even though he looked different, he still felt the same (thought he seemed happier now, for some reason) and he still moved the same – rather like a cat or some large predator, perhaps a panther – sleek and powerful.

Another thing that didn't change about X – no, _Jason_ – was that he could move silently, and somehow managed to sneak up on her on more than one occasion. He was also able to catch her off guard with his unpredictable mood swings and comments. One moment he could be cocky and light-hearted, and the next he could be a stubborn gentleman.

After Jason's revelation of his identity on the day he awoke from his self-induced coma was a good example.

Raven had been sitting there, staring in shock at his handsome, now-revealed face, when X smirked and said, "See something you like, Sunshine?"

Against her will, Raven felt her face heat up and she immediately channeled the unwelcome, flustered feeling into a glare.

"I could ask the same of you," she snapped. X's aura suddenly became smug.

"Maybe, who knows?" he said flippantly. Oblivious to her temper, he turned and made his way over to the couch, which was faced away from the dinner table. He collapsed onto it dramatically and sank out of sight, hidden by the back of the couch.

"What are you doing?" Raven asked, exasperated. She stood up from her chair and walked over to the back of the couch, where she stood stiffly and looked down at him.

X – no, _Jason_ (why did that name sound familiar? Raven shrugged and dismissed it as coincidence) – had his eyes closed and his arms folded behind his head, a satisfied smirk on his face. His eyes opened to reveal that breathtakingly beautiful sea-green again, and he raised his eyebrows.

"What does it look like? I'm going to sleep, of course."

Raven opened her mouth to protest, but he continued on.

"Don't think I didn't notice there's only one bedroom, Sunshine," Jason said. He gave her a look, "I'll sleep out here, so as to preserve your dignity and allow your conscience to let you get some sleep."

Her brow furrowed, concern winning out over irritation, "But you're injured."

His emotions darkened and he smirked, "I've been through worse. I'll be fine – go to sleep."

And so Raven had grudgingly admitted defeat and had gone to bed. She had woken up to discover Jason had made a trip to the local thrift store, and was slightly bedazzled by how good he looked in casual clothes.

Raven had also discovered that Jason had quite the mouth on him – it was not uncommon for him to insert swear words into every other sentence, especially when he was frustrated, though he tried to curb the habit when she was around.

In fact, Raven had only discovered it when she dropped off some lunch for him (including some medication for his injuries) at the mechanic shop. She happened upon him just as he was trying to get a stubborn bolt to come loose with a wrench. He was cussing up a storm and didn't sound close to stopping until Raven cleared her throat and caught his attention.

Slowly, Jason had pushed himself out from under the car he was working on and had given her a sheepish look.

"Sorry about that," he muttered, looking abashed. Raven gave him a bemused look and held out the lunch bag, which he took with a slightly curious expression.

"What's this?" he asked. Raven tried not to blush at his suddenly piercing look.

"It's lunch," she replied, suddenly feeling foolish. _What was I thinking?_ she thought harshly, _He can take care of himself. You should have just brought the medicine_.

"If you don't want it –" she began, feeling stupid.

"No, it's fine," Jason cut her off quickly. "I just – thank you," he said sincerely, "I appreciate it."

Raven left as soon as possible after that.

Unfortunately, that was only another in a long line of situations involving X that left her feeling flustered. It had started when he first appeared years ago, when his target appeared to be Starfire, and had escalated until it was clear that his new target seemed to be her, Raven.

It made her so angry he could get under her skin so easily; he would flirt with her and make it extremely difficult to control her emotions . . . . Didn't he realize there was a reason she worked hard to stay as monotonous as possible? Losing control of her emotions was too dangerous; she couldn't let it happen. Disaster would strike and it would be like her father's return all over again.

But Jason didn't seem to care. He seemed to have a certain fixation with dangerous things (Raven had seen him eying a couple daggers that were on display in a shop they had passed by once) and liked to toy with her.

Like right now, for example.

The two had just gotten back to the apartment from work and were eating dinner. It had been about a week since they had been catapulted into this dimension and despite herself Raven found that she enjoyed Jason's company. He had a wry sense of humor similar to her own, and like her he had read several archaic books over the years.

At the moment they were discussing the many things that sorcerers – particularly Azarathian ones – were forbidden to do.

"Are you kidding me?" Jason asked incredulously, "In order for their magic to work, male Azarathian sorcerers can't eat apples?"

Raven nodded. She stood up with a small smile and began to clear the dishes.

"It's true. Eating apples is forbidden to male Azarathian sorcerers because for some reason it cancels out their magic," she replied as she set the dishes in the sink. She turned around and suddenly found herself staring into Jason's beautiful eyes. He was standing dangerously close to her, a peculiar smirk on his face and a strange, intense look in his eyes.

_When did he get there?_

Without warning, Raven suddenly found herself caged between his muscular body and the counter, his arms on either side of her boxing her in and preventing her from escaping. Raven's eyes widened and her heart began to pound uncontrollably.

It didn't take long for her shock to turn into anger.

_What the hell is he doing?_ she thought indignantly. _How dare he sneak up on me like that!_ Her roiling emotions caused the lights to flicker, but Jason never so much as blinked. In fact, he leaned even closer until his face – and his lips, she realized – was only a few inches from her own.

He continued to stare at her silently with half-lidded eyes for a few moments, and then he said in a soft, low voice, "Don't you know, Sunshine?"

He leaned even closer until Raven could feel the entire plane of his body pressed against hers, the muscles in his shoulders coiling as he supported his weight with his hands, which were on the counter behind her.

Raven could feel his breath on her neck; it caused goosebumps to awaken on her skin and sent pleasant tingles down her spine. She felt him smile as she shuddered slightly.

His lips slowly ghosted up the skin of her neck and Raven suddenly found her anger fading as she fought to breathe or even think coherently. At last his lips stopped next to her ear.

"Forbidden fruit always tastes the sweetest," Jason said softly. Raven stiffened; she had the feeling they weren't talking about Azarathian taboos anymore.

When he felt her tense, Jason laughed softly and then retreated, stepping away from her and committing the adorable blush on her face to memory (who knew when he'd get to see it again). Satisfied, Jason walked over to the couch and lay down out of sight, tossing an airy "Good night, Sunshine," over his shoulder.

The hall light overhead was surrounded by black magic and shattered, leaving the entire apartment in darkness. With a growl, Raven went to bed, resisting the urge to slam the bedroom door shut behind her.

#? #? #? #? #? #? #? #? #?

The next day Raven left the house before Jason woke up. He glanced around the empty apartment with a sigh before he headed off to work.

_Perhaps I was a little too forward_, Jason mused. A small smile broke out on his face, _But it was worth it. She looks so cute when she's flustered._

With that in mind, Jason put his hands in his pockets and sauntered down the street to the mechanic shop, deciding that it would be in his best interests if he wasn't late to work.

#? #? #? #? #? #? #? #? #?

When Jason got back to the apartment that evening, he immediately knew something was wrong.

The air was choked with an ominous feeling, and the apartment seemed darker than usual, despite the sunlight that was streaming through the grimy window.

Jason closed the front door softly behind him and locked it after a moment's hesitation. The eerie silence made him tense and he melted into the shadows as he waited for something to happen.

Nothing moved for the next ten minutes, and eventually Jason had to concede that perhaps he was just being paranoid. He had just begun to relax when a whimper made him freeze and tense up all over again.

Then it dawned on him.

_Wait a minute_, he thought, _I know that voice_ – his eyes widened– _it's Raven!_

Frantically Jason tore through the apartment, trying to find her. When he arrived in the kitchen he finally found her sprawled out on the floor, her appearance back to normal except that her ashen skin was turning even more gray and the chakra point on her forehead was glowing a deep, angry red. Her purple hair was plastered to her face with sweat and she was panting quietly, her chest heaving as though it couldn't draw in enough air.

Jason was by her side in an instant, rolling her over so that she was lying on her back and checking her for injuries.

His brow furrowed when he couldn't find anything wrong and he turned his attention to her face, gently brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Raven, Raven," Jason said, "What's wrong? Dammit, wake up, Sunshine!"

Her eyes flew open and she sat up with a gasp. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed backward again into his arms.

Thrilled that she had regained consciousness, Jason was determined not to let her slip away again.

"Raven," he repeated, trying to get her to open her eyes and look at him, "Hey, Sunshine, what's going on?"

Raven finally opened her eyes and for a moment they just stared at each other. Then Raven seemed to realize the position they were in and tried to sit up again, only to find herself being scooped up into Jason's arms and carried over to the couch.

"Ah, ah, ah, Sunshine," Jason scolded cheekily as he gently laid her down on the cheap cushions. She glared at him when he took the liberty to brush her sweat-soaked bangs off her forehead.

"You gave me quite a scare," Jason said seriously, making eye contact with her when she tried to look away.

"It's nothing," Raven snapped, trying to sit up, only to have Jason push her down again.

"Tell me what happened," Jason countered evenly, looking her in the eye, "Come on, you owe me."

Raven continued to glare at him but eventually relented, "It's just a side-effect."

"A side-effect of what?" he asked.

Raven frowned, "Dimension-hopping is not natural, and causes an adverse reaction in those who attempt it. Depending on how sensitive to the world around them someone is, the greater the effect is. Because I am an empath, I am much more sensitive and am therefore more effected by it than, say, you for example."

Jason raised an eyebrow, "So this is normal?"

Raven looked troubled, "Not exactly. I have experienced 'dimension sickness' as we call it, before; when I left Azarath and came to Earth. It was not nearly as disabling then, so the only explanation is that something must have happened here. Something involving Dark Magic that aggravated my psychic senses so much it made me more susceptible to 'dimension sickness.'"

"Something like what?" Jason's eyebrows furrowed.

Raven shrugged, indicating she didn't know.

"Whatever it was, it must have happened recently, right? That's why the 'dimension sickness' is affecting you so badly?" Jason deduced.

"I suppose," Raven replied. She thought for a moment, and had just opened her mouth to say something when the small T.V. sitting on the table across from them turned on by itself.

They were surprised to see three of the heroes they had escaped from a week ago standing side-by-side on the little screen, looking serious.

The one standing in the middle – this dimension's Aqualad, Jason realized – began to speak, "Attention kids and teens of the world. As you all know, the adults have disappeared. I know you must be upset and angry, but please, stay calm. We will find a way to bring the adults back. For now, the oldest among you must step up and take care of kids who are younger than you. Protect them. It is up to you to keep them safe until the adults return. Do not worry; we will find a way to get the adults back as soon as possible. Until then, do your best to look after each other."

After Aqualad finished speaking, Kid Flash and Robin (who were standing on either side of Aqualad) began repeating the same message in various languages. Jason and Raven tuned them out in favor of regarding each other with serious expressions.

"Does every adult disappearing from the face of the Earth sound like Dark Magic to you?" Jason asked, raising his eyebrows.

Raven, still weak from dimension sickness, nodded. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a second. When she opened them again she said, "Yes. Now that I know to look for it, I can hear chanting on the spiritual plane. The words are interwoven with Dark Magic. Judging by the cadence and strength of the words, there must be at least five powerful sorcerers involved, and at least once object they are using to channel their energy through."

"Can you find out where they are?"

Raven closed her eyes again. Her brow furrowed and her body trembled slightly in concentration. Finally she opened her eyes and looked at him, "They're close by, on Roanoke Island."

Jason nodded and stood up, "Alright, Sunshine, you stay here while I go check out what's going on."

"No!" Raven protested immediately, forcing herself up into a sitting position, "I am not letting you go alone. There are at least five Dark Magic users behind this – you won't be able to handle them alone."

Despite the fact he was a little put-off by her lack of faith in his abilities, Jason couldn't help but smile at her determination to help. _Honestly_, he thought, _she's just too cute when she's acting all heroic._

"Have it your way, Sunshine," he said, putting his hands up in surrender, "but I warn you; I will be very unhappy if you get hurt."

_He's flirting again_, Raven thought with mild irritation. She quickly pushed the thought to the back of her mind; she had bigger things to worry about at the moment.

A few minutes later, the two had changed back into their uniforms and were preparing to head out. Jason pulled the mask over his face and turned to regard Raven out of the corner of his eye. She still looked a little shaky, and he resolved to keep an eye on her.

"Ready?" he asked, making sure the voice modulator was functioning properly. Raven nodded.

"Let's go," Jason said. He opened the front door and gestured for her to go first, "After you, my lady."

Raven rolled her eyes and walked out the door, determined not to let him see the small smile on her face.

_We have to hurry_, she thought grimly, _I can feel others closing in on whoever's behind this . . . it's probably the kid heroes of this universe, and, as much as I'd rather not get involved with them, I doubt they'll be strong enough to stop them without our help._

With this in mind, Raven used scraps of her depleted strength to teleport herself and Jason to Roanoke Island.

**So, how was it? I personally thought it was a little . . . meh and OOC, but I did my best! I'll get started right away on Chapter Seven. Next time the two groups meet again and have to face Klarion . . . who may or may not be able to keep his mouth shut. Will secrets be revealed? Tune in next time to find out!**

**Happy early birthday to my friend Shannon! And happy Earth Day to everyone! You know what they say; Read, Review, and Return-when-there's-an-update! Or is it Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle? Hmm . . . .**

_**~ Home By Another Way**_


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